The Crash of the Hogwarts Express
by MyOneHeartx3
Summary: The Hogwarts Express was always able to bring the students safely to Hogwarts until it crashed...In order to get back to Hogwarts, two enemies will have to put aside their differences and work together in order to survive.
1. 1: The Crash

**DISREQUARDS HBP&DH**

Chapter One:

Hermione sat in the compartment with her two best friends: Ron and Harry. She was reading the daily prophet, waiting to arrive at Hogwarts. Hermione was going back for her seventh year to graduate properly.

"I think Malfoy's a death eater." Harry said.

Hermione looked up from the paper and gave him a look. "That's impossible…He's only seventeen."

"You never know, Hermione…He's a creepy bloke." Ron said.

"I know what I saw, and Hermione you saw it too!"

"I told you, Harry, I don't know what I saw." She stated.

"I know it's true," Harry insisted.

Draco was walking over to his compartment with Pansy and Blaise when he heard Weasel, Potty and Granger talking about him.

"He's a creepy bloke," Ron said.

"Draco, over here!" Pansy called.

He turned and saw her in a few compartments back. "I'm coming." He listened for a little more then walked over to his friends.

"What took you so long to get here, mate?" Blaise Zabini asked.

"Too many stupid prat first years blocking the walk ways." He said as he sat down.

"Well hopefully we'll be at Hogwarts soon," Pansy said. She was practically sitting on Draco's lap.

"Ugh, I don't even want to finish school this year, but mum's making me. She says it'll do me good whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."

"But the last year is always the best," Pansy was trying to get Draco in a better mood for her sake. She didn't want to be the depressed guy's girlfriend.

"Whatever," was all he said.

"Harry can we please stop talking about Malfoy?" Hermione asked, getting pretty fed up.

"Yeah, mate. You haven't stopped talking about him since we got on the train." Ron said. He seemed annoyed also.

Harry's mouth closed. "Yeah, sorry about that, guys. I didn't realize I was talking about it so much."

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks and chuckled. "I need to get some air," Hermione said. "This compartment is so stuffy." She stood up and walked out of the compartment. She looked behind her and noticed Draco Malfoy a few compartments behind hers. He looked at her also.

She walked slowly toward the other direction; she was heading for the trolley. For some reason, she was in the mood for a licorice wand. As she was walking, she felt the train shift and she almost fell over.

Draco got up from his seat, saying he had to stretch his legs a bit. He didn't move from his friends, but his eyes were on Hermione who was walking to the trolley. He suddenly felt the train shift and he almost fell over too.

The lights turned off and the train was tipping over on its side. "What's going?" Draco found himself saying, "What is it?"

He saw people in the distance. Potter's nose was bleeding and Luna took off her stupid looking spectacles. Ron stuck his head out of the compartment as did all the other students.

The train jolted backwards and Hermione was flung back. She bumped into Draco and they both fell over, landing in an empty compartment. Both hit their heads and became unconscious. The door slid shut by itself and it locked itself too. Screams erupted throughout the train is it tipped over on its right side.

It was official…The Hogwarts Express had crashed. But how?


	2. The journey begins

**DISREGUARDS HBP&DH!**

**I'd like to thank my first reviewer: betrothed-to-a-ferret (:**

Chapter Two:

Hermione opened her eyes and had a major headache. She looked over and noticed she was lying on top of Draco Malfoy. She quickly crawled away from him and observed her surroundings. Everything was scattered across the floor. The seats fell apart and Hermione was sitting on the door to the compartment. She look out the door and realized the train had crashed and it was tipped over on the side. She looked to see if anyone was around or still on the train, but there was no one in sight. The train was deserted.

She heard Malfoy stir and groan. He held onto his head and sat up. "Ow, what the bloody hell happened?" He looked over at Hermione and glared at her. "Thank for crashing into me, Granger," he said sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh then I'm sorry the train had to crash," she retorted back at him. She tried to unlock the door, but it wouldn't budge. "It's stuck."

"You're just doing it wrong, move," he went over to the door and tried to open it.

"I think I know how to open a door, Malfoy."

He was pulling at the door, but it still wouldn't open. He swore under his breath and took his wand out of his pocket. He mumbled a few spells, none of them working.

Meanwhile, Hermione went over to the other side of the compartment. She looked up at the ceiling and saw the windows. She stepped on all the trash that was on the floor and reached up to it. She was able to touch the window and when she did, she pushed up on it. It wouldn't open. "Help me get the window open," she commanded.

He looked over at her and stood next to her. He stood on the trash and pounded against the window and the glass shattered. Hermione ducked, trying to avoid broken glass getting into her skin. When she looked back up, she could almost reach the rim of the window to get out, but her five foot four figure couldn't grab it.

Draco raised his eyebrows and grabbed the rim without even trying. Hermione glared at him and still tried to grab it. "Need some help there?"

"No, I can handle this on my own." Hermione knew she couldn't do it on her own, but she didn't want him to think she was weak.

"Are you sure?"

She glared at him, "Yes."

"Alright then, suit yourself." He pushed her out of the way and put both hands on the rim. He climbed up easily and stood on the side of the train. He looked around; there wasn't a person in sight for miles and he knew Hogwarts was far away from where they were.

Hermione still tried to get up, but she couldn't. Draco started walking away. "Hey, where are you going?"

"As far away from you as possible."

She didn't want to end up dying there in that train so she called out to him, "can you help me up?"

He walked back over to where Hermione was and raised his eyebrows at her. "So the know-it-all I-can-do-everything-myself Granger needs my help?"

She sighed heavily, "Yes, Malfoy, I need your help."

He smirked and let his hands down. "Take my hands and I'll pull you up."

She hesitated, not sure if he would just drop her.

"C'mon, I don't bite," he smirked again.

She took a deep breath and grabbed his hands. He pulled her up without much struggle. It wasn't too easy, but he was able to bring her up.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Whatever."

She stood up and straightened out her jeans and shirt. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her beaded bag. She packed the bag full of items just in case of an emergency. It was pocket-sized, but it was like an endless black hole. So many things could fit inside of it. 'I knew this would come in handy,' she thought, smiling.

"What are you smiling about, Granger? We're in the middle of nowhere. Now's not the time to smile." Draco said.

"I remember packing this bag full of emergency supplies before I went to the train."

"You knew the train was going to crash?" He asked suspiciously.

She gave him a look, "of course not! I packed this in case I needed it. Since the war, I've always packed emergency supplies."

He raised his eyebrows.

"You know, Malfoy, if you keep raising your eyebrows like that, they'll stay up there forever."

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, and jump down."

"Excuse me?" She asked a bit startled.

"You heard me," he paused. "Jump."

"I'm not jumping! It's too far down!"

"Oh, stop being a baby!" He said.

She shook her head 'no.' There was no way in hell she was jumping off the side of a train.

"Don't make me have to push you."

Her eyes widened, "you wouldn't dare-"

He grabbed her waist and jumped down with her. They both landed on their backs and Hermione moved away from him, groaning in pain. "Why'd you do that?!" She asked angrily.

He coughed, "how else were we supposed to get down?"

She sat up and glared at him. "We could've climbed down the side!"

"That would take too long."

She rubbed her temples before standing up. He stood up as well. "Well what do we do now?" He asked.

She sighed, "I guess the only thing we can do is try to find our way back to Hogwarts." She started walking in a direction.

"How do you know that's even the right way?"

She pointed to the train tracks, "follow the tracks."

He didn't say anything, but he did feel pretty stupid. "How long do you suppose it'll take to get to Hogwarts?"

She didn't look at him, just straight ahead, "I'm guessing a few days since we're walking and we weren't even on the train for that long."

"He groaned loudly. "Great, now I have to spend a few days with you."

She turned back and glared at him. "Do you ever shut up?"

"No," he said simply.

'Great,' she thought, 'just what I need: to be stuck with someone who loves to hear his own voice.'


	3. Shelter

Chapter Three:

As they walked along the tracks in silence, Hermione began thinking. What if they don't make it back in time? What if they starve?

Her face turned pale as she thought those horrible thoughts. Her legs were starting to get tired, and she noticed the tracks began fading away. "Hey, look."

She bent down next to where the track ended and Draco looked over her shoulder. "The track just ends, but how is that possible?"

He gave her a look, "how the hell am I supposed to know."

She looked over her shoulder and glared at him, "I wasn't talking to you, Malfoy!"

"Oh, so you were talking to yourself?"

"Just shut up!"

Draco made a face at her when she turned away from him. 'She's so stubborn…She really doesn't know how to have a good time.' He thought.

Hermione thought to herself for a while. She thought about where they would go to get to Hogwarts. "I guess we have to go through the forest," she said after a while.

He sighed to himself, "whatever."

"Is that the only word you know?" She asked. Her voice had an annoyed tone to it.

"What?" He asked baffled.

"You heard me; all you've been saying to me this entire time is 'whatever,'" she mocked him. "Do you even know any other words?"

He raised his eyebrows (again) which made Hermione even more frustrated with him. "Erg, you have no idea how agitating you are!"

"I can say the same for you!" he shot back. "All you do is pretend like you're the smartest person on the planet, but guess what…you're not!"

"I do not think I'm the smartest person on the planet!"

"Yes you do; you do because all you do is point out the obvious like I'm an idiot! I've noticed the tracks ended!"

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. She didn't want to waste her energy arguing with that stupid ferret. She started walking again toward the forest not even caring if he was following her. She didn't want to find her back with him; she could take care of herself.

He ran up to her, "where do you think you're going?"

"As far away from you as possible," she said.

"Fine, go ahead! Leave without me and die."

She turned back and faced him; her arms were crossed. "You think I need you to stay alive? I believe it's the other way around, buddy."

He raised his eyebrows again and Hermione rolled her eyes, "I can't stay with someone for days who keeps raising his eyebrows. It's annoying as hell; you really need a new hobby!"

"And you need to learn to shut up and stop being a know-it-all."

She sighed heavily and noticed the sun was going down. She knew they had to find a place to sleep, and arguing wouldn't bring them anywhere.

"Let's just go find someplace to camp out." She said as she walked into the woods with Malfoy at her heels.

They found a small spot not noticeable from someone standing outside the woods. They didn't want to take a chance and be seen by whoever crashed the Hogwarts Express. Hermione packed the same tent that was used during the triwizrd tournament in her beaded bag. The Weasley's let her take it, just in case.

"Wow, Granger, you're really prepared for this…"

She gave him a look, "the Weasley's let me take it with me in case Ron, Harry or I needed it." Her expression fell to blank after she said that. She thought about Ron and Harry. Were they safe? Did they get back to Hogwarts? Was everyone except her and Draco dead?

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she said.

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not stupid you know."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she mumbled.

"I heard that."

"Don't care!"

Hermione stood and smiled at the great job she did. Just as she was looking around, the whole tent collapsed, toppling them.

"Wow Granger, putting up a tent is really that difficult?" he was clearly annoyed.

She got out from under the tent and saw Draco rubbing the back of his neck. "I put it up perfectly, I know I did!" She examined her surroundings.

"Well obviously you didn't put it up perfectly!"

"No, I did, which is why this is strange." Her hand was on her chin as she thought. She walked around the perimeter of the tent and observed it. "There's something odd about all of this." She bent down next to the tent and noticed a giant hole in the side. "What?"

"What?" Draco bent down next to her, "what the hell?"

"Great, bad tent."

"I bet it was those Weasels," he stood.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up as well. "I doubt they'd give me a faulty tent."

He turned and walked around to the front of the tent and Hermione followed. "We can make a shelter with the remains of this tent." She suggested.

"I hope you have fun with that." He sat on a rock and put his hands behind his head. Hermione glared at him and he raised his eyebrows.

"Don't think I'm doing this by myself! You're helping," she stated.

"Fine, but only because I don't want it to rain on me. My hair frizzes and it's not pretty." He got up and started tearing the tent.

"Oh, God forbid your hair frizzes," she mumbled to herself and helped him tear the tent into pieces.


	4. Heat & Food

The Crash of The Hogwarts Express Chapter Four:

Draco and Hermione made something that looked sort of like a tent. It wasn't great, but it was a whole lot better than nothing. Hermione placed the lasts bits of tent on the ground so she wouldn't have to sleep on the dirt. She only put on her side. Malfoy hardly did anything, and now he was going to pay for it.

She stood up and smiled at her work. _That should be good_, she thought. She took the hair tie that she carries around her ankle and put her hair in a messy pony tail. It was odd. It was fall and it felt like it was over ninety degrees. She rubbed the back of her neck and a small amount of sweat was on her hand. What the-?

Hermione jumped out of her socks when she heard a deafening scream. She ran over to where Malfoy was and tried her hardest not to laugh. Tiny beads of sweat formed on his forehead and his hair was slowly frizzing. It went from silky and smooth to wavy and frizzy in just seconds.

"Don't you dare laugh, Granger!" He warned.

She couldn't help herself; she burst out in a squeaky laugh. She had trouble finding air but it was too funny. Malfoy's hands rolled into fists and he looked like he was ready to strike her.

"WHY THE HELL IS IT SO DAMN HOT?" he screamed.

Hermione stopped laughing and began fanning herself. It _was_ getting really hot. It must be almost a hundred degrees out by now. Hermione felt her breathing quicken and sweat form all over her ripped her sweater off trying to stay cool. "I don't know," she mumbled.

Draco grabbed his hair and started freaking out. "It was just nice and cool and now it's blazing out! Is this forest enchanted or something?"

"I'm sorry, I don't remember reading a book called '_What to expect when the Hogwarts Express crashes and you're forced to live with the one you hate the most.'_ She rolled her eyes. If he didn't shut up, she was going to knock him out.

"You should have because all you do is read," he was pacing and running his fingers through his hair. If he pulled it any harder, his hair would fall right out of his head.

"SHUT UP! IT'S HOT AND I'M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS STUPID BICKERING!" Hermione screamed. Well, that stopped him from pacing. She put her head in her hand and shook her head. The sweat from her forehead was making her hair stand up and Malfoy's hair was wet and fell against his eyes.

Hermione stood up, "I need water," she said and started walking away. She stopped at a stream and was about to drink it when someone came up from behind her and pulled her away.

"What are you doing Malfoy?"

"Saving you," he said, panting.

"What are you talking about? If I don't drink anything, I'll pass out."

He put his hands up in front of her face, "calm down. That water WILL kill you. Stick out your hands."

He was so thirsty, so she obeyed. He took out his wand and said, "Aguamente." Water pured out of his wand and Hermione drank it all. She instantly felt relieved.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

He just nodded and started walking back to the tent. It was still hot and it was suspicious.

"Maybe this is a way to keep intruders away from Hogwarts," Hermione said and Draco gave her a look. "What I mean is that it just becomes so unbearably hot that the intruders leave and never come back. It makes perfect sense," she was talking more to herself than Malfoy.

"Do you think it'll stop?" he sounded desperate and he scratched the back of his neck.

She sighed, "it should, but not for a few more hours."

"Ugh! We can cook meat in this heat!"

Hermione's mouth began to water. She was starving, but what were they supposed to eat? Of course she packed everything except food. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

She could see that Malfoy was hungry also because his eyes lit up when he thought about cooking meat. "What are we supposed to eat?"

She gave him a look, "how the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Oh, so you didn't pack food in that bag of yours?"

"No, okay? I didn't think the train would crash so I didn't!" The heat was really getting to her. She could feel the anger boiling up inside of her. It was worse that it would normally be.

Draco drank some water from his wand. "I kind of have an idea, but I doubt you'd like it."

She sat down on a rock near the tent. "I think I'll do anything at this point."

"We could eat snake," he mumbled and sat down next to her.

Her eyes widened, "snake? Where would we ever get a snake?"

He held up his wand. "Do you want it or not. 'Cause if you do, then you have to make a fire, and I'll cook it."

She would have normally said no, but anything sounded good to her right now. "Fine."

It took Hermione twenty minutes to start the fire. After that, Draco mumbled "Serpensortia" and a snake flew out of his wand. He stuck it with a stick. The sight of all the blood that gushed out of it made Hermione nauseous and unsure.

"Uh, I'm not too sure I want to eat that." She said.

He gave her a look, "it's either this or nothing."

She pouted. He was right, unfortunately.

He held the now dead snake in front of the fire and Hermione wanted to gag as she saw the blood spill out of it. "You're taking it's guts out."

He smirked, "cool."

She gave him a disgusted look, "you're gross."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know."

"Whatever." He made no sense to her at all.

After Draco was done with all the gross stuff that Hermione couldn't look at, he cut it into eight equal pieces. Four for Hermione and four for himself. "Cheers." He held his piece up near Hermione.

She picked up a piece and touched it with his, "cheers." She couldn't help but laugh, which made him laugh as well.

She watched as he dug his teeth into it. She was too scared to try hers. "C'mon Granger, it's good."

"I don't think I can trust you."

"You can on this," he said with a mouthful and he kept eating more.

She gingerly took about out of the flesh of the snake. She smiled after she swallowed, "wow, that is really good."

"See?"

She ate the rest of the snake and was glad Malfoy thought of it. If he hadn't they'd probably starve to death.

"I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed." Hermione said and got up. She laid down in the tent and fell asleep instantly. She didn't realize how tired she really was until now. She felt Draco move in next to her, but she ignored it. It was far too hot to think about him.

So, she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Beating the Heat

Hermione's eyes fluttered open because the sun was hitting her in the face. She groaned and put her arm over her eyes, trying to shield them. The fact that she was stranded in the middle of nowhere with Malfoy finally began to sink in.

She sat up with a start and started looking around. It was still blazing hot out, so Hermione whipped the sweat off her forehead. She looked to her right side and saw Malfoy sleeping on his side. He was facing her. Why? she wondered.

"Malfoy."

He didn't budge. If they were going to get back on time, he would have to wake up. She had no choice but to force him. "MALFOY! GET YOUR LAZY SELF UP!" she screamed.

He woke with a start and glared at Hermione when he saw her smirking at him. "What the hell, Granger?"

"If you want to get back to the school, then you have to get up early, so we can get a move on."

He groaned, "you're acting like my mother."

"Fine, then I'm leaving without you."

He grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She turned and looked down at him. "I'm coming with you," he said.

They packed everything in about five minutes. They kept walking forward, hoping they were going in the right direction.

They walked for a long time in the heat. Hermione started breathing heavily, so she stopped walking. "Do you think we can stop for a while? Maybe sit in the shade?"

Malfoy didn't hesitate. He was hot also; his hair was almost completely soaked over his eyes.

They decided to sit under a near-by tree. Hermione leaned back against it and closed her eyes. She couldn't bear the heat. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wand. She pointed it to her mouth and said, "aguamente." The water flowed smoothly into her mouth and she instantly felt relieved. She heard Malfoy do the same, but she didn't open her eyes.

"This heat is unbearable." Draco mumbled.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked over to him. "Tell me about it. And I have a feeling this is just the beginning. There will be much worse things as we get closer to Hogwarts."

Draco groaned, "great."

They sat in silence for another five minutes while their tired bodies recharged.

"Why are you staying here with me? You keep saying you're going to leave, but when are you going to do it?" Hermione asked.

He looked at her, "I don't know."

"If you hate me, you should leave."

Their eyes met.

"You have all the supplies, Granger."

She looked away from him and didn't say anything. She could see the heat radiating off the forest floor.. The heat actually seemed to be coming from the floor, not the sun. Hermione knew the forest was enchanted. She was just hoping that some of the charms wouldn't be completely deadly. But she knew Dumbledore, and he would do anything to keep Hogwarts and its students safe.

"Granger?"

Hermione sighed, "what?"

"Can we just aparate into the castle? Neither of us has the charm on."

"Malfoy, think logically here. If anyone could just aparate his way into Hogwarts, it would be destroyed. I was told long ago that there was a protective charm on the castle and everything around it for miles and miles. We can't aparate."

"And if we do?"

"We'll probably get splinched or die."

"Ripped apart?"

"Yup."

Draco sighed and looked away from Hermione, "when do you think this heat will stop? I don't know if I can take it anymore."

"I can't take it either, but we have to keep moving. I think that once we get to a certain point, the heat will completely stop." She said.

"How do you know?"

"It's called an educated guess, Malfoy. Now, shut your yap. We have to start moving again if we want to escape this heat by nightfall."

They kept walking at the quickest pace both of them could conjure in the extreme heat. Hermione wanted to run away. Get away from this heat and from Malfoy who always seemed to be at her heels. She was getting a bit annoyed with him. Correction, she was ALWAYS annoyed with him.

As the sun started t set in the distance, Hermione felt a breeze hit her face. "Do you feel that?"

Malfoy's eyes seemed to sparkle, "a breeze..."

Hermione was smiling from ear to ear and she turned and faced him. "I think we finally beat the heat!"

A breeze blew Herione's hair out of her ponytail and it flew around her face. She clapped her hands together, "I can't believe it! We're going in the right direction AND we're almost there!"

Even Malfoy looked relieved, but he said nothing.

"We should set up camp... We had a long day." Hermione said.


	6. Unbearable Cold

By the time the tent was fully set up, night had already fallen. It had started to get a bit breezy out, so Hermione reached into her sparkly bag, grabbed a sweater out of it, and put it on. She rubbed her arms when the wind started to pick up again.

She walked into the tent for some shelter from the wind. Malfoy was in the tent as well. He gave Hermione a look when she walked in. "Where'd you get that sweater from?"

She held up the small bag, but didn't say anything. When he nodded, she put the bag down and looked away from him. Draco started to rub his arms as well and Hermione looked at him. "You cold?"

"What do you care?" he snapped.

She shrugged. "I just thought you'd want one of Ron or Harry' sweaters that I have packed, but obviously you don't, so whatever."

"Yeah, I don't want Potter and Weasel smell on me."

"Have it your way."

Hermione turned away from him and lied on her side, trying to fall asleep.

As night began to fall, it got even colder. Hermione was in a ball. Her legs were against her chest. When she started to see her breath in front of her, she grabbed her bag and reached for a blanket. She pulled one out and wrapped it around herself, not caring about Malfoy who was shivering next to her.

But after a minute and hearing Malfoy's teeth chattering, her conscience took over. She moved a little closer to him and gave him some of her blanket. He gladly took it, but didn't look at her at all. Although, she thought she heard the words "thank you" leave Draco Malfoy's mouth.

The next morning they both woke and felt as if they were both frozen. Draco and Hermione moved closer together while they were sleeping without them knowing. But it helped block the cold, so neither of them really cared.

Hermione let out a giant sigh once she woke. Why was it so cold now? Another thing to keep intruders out? Probably.

"Granger," Malfoy muffled.

"W-w-w-what?" Hermione shivered.

"It's c-c-cold." Draco regretted shivering the second it happened, but it no one could go back in time...

"N-n-n-no d-d-duh!" Hermione said. Her body started shivering out of control. She pulled the blanket close to her and pulled her legs up into her chest. Man, it was cold!

"You o-okay?"

"w-what do you c-c-care?" She spat.

"I d-don't."

They sat in silence for a while. For a few minutes Hermione stuck her head in the blanket to try to keep warm. She found her pink bag and reached inside it. She grabbed her hat, some gloves, and a scarf. She hesitated when her fingers brushed against one of Ron's sweaters that she knew would fit Malfoy. Should she give it to him? Well, she WAS the better person.

She got out from under the blanket with Ron's sweater and one of Harry's scarves and a pair of his gloves. She held them out to Malfoy. "Here."

He shook his head.

She gave him a look. "Do you want to freeze to death?"

He shook his head again.

"I thought so."

He took the stuff from her hands and put them on. "What the hell was Dumbledore thinking when he put these enchantments around the castle?"

"He was thinking of what's best for the students and teachers of Hogwarts," Hermione said obviously. She started to rub her hands together. She would never admit this, but she was thinking the exact same thing.

"Should we start walking?"

Hermione shook her head. "Too cold."

"But it won't get any better until we leave this zone thing," he said.

She looked over to him. "I know, but I don't think I can move. My feet are freezing." Hermione and Draco were both sitting up now with the blanket over their laps. Hermione pulled her feet closer to her body to keep warm. Stupid enchantments, she thought.

"Do you think everyone else is alive?" Hermione asked out of nowhere.

"Who?"

"The Hogwarts students. And the old trolley lady! Are they all dead? Did they make it to Hogwarts? Were they kidnapped? Are they traveling like we are?" Hermione was talking to herself more than she was talking to him.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know."

"And Harry? And Ron? And Ginny? And Luna? And Dean? And Neville? And-"

"I GET IT!" Draco yelled. "You miss your friends, I know. But you're not the only one with friends who were on the train, you know."

Hermione didn't say anything. She didn't know how to respond to that. "Maybe we should go." Hermione said, trying to change the subject. "The only way to beat this cold is moving forward... Then it'll get worse."

"Worse? Dumbledore's a nut!"

"He's a genius!" Hermione defended.

Draco rolled his eyes, "whatever."

"Oh, here we go with the 'whatever' again. Whoopie. I'm so lucky to be traveling with a person who only know how to say 'whatever.'" Hermione said sarcastically.

He shook his head.

Hermione ignored him and started to stand up when a big gush of wind came and knocked her down. She fell right into Malfoy's lap. He glared at her. "Ow! You're heavier thann you look, Granger!"

Hermione's face redened, but she tried to not make it obvious. She glared at him. "I'm not THAT heavy, Malfoy."

"Maybe you should try for a salad at the next feast in the Great Hall."

She punched him on the arm and he pretended like it hurt. She glared at him again. "Sorry. It's not my fault I fell."

Hermione tried to get herself up/ She grabbed onto his shoulder for support. For a moment she felt a spark run up her finger, but that was impossible so she ignored it. She stood up and straightened out her clothes. "We going?"

He stood up also. "Let's start packing."

It took twenty minutes this time to pack everything because it was so cold and windy. They walked for about ten minutes in silence until the wind got even stronger. If Hermione's hair were wet, the end would literally turn to icicles. That's how cold it was.

Hermione shivered. She officially hated the cold, and she would never go back to liking it. She now knew that getting back to Hogwarts would not be a piece of cake.

Hermione suddenly stopped in her tracks. Malfoy got a few paces ahead until he realized Hermione stopped and he turned around. He held up his arms. "Why'd you stop."

Hermione was shivering out of control. "I-I-I c-c-cant d-d-do i-it. T-too c-c-c-cold."

Malfoy took a few steps closer to her. "I k-know it's c-cold, but we h-have to k-keep m-moving f we w-want to b-beat it."

Hermione shook her head frantically. She couldn't walk anymore. Her body wouldn't let her.

Draco gave her a look. "Then y-you're j-just going t-to stay h-here forever?"

Hermione nodded, not knowing what was going on. The cold seemed to be freezing her brain because she couldn't seem to think at all. "It's u-u-unbearable. I-I c-can't t-take it."

"Y-you're the one who s-said we h-have to k-keep moving f-forward."

"I-I know, but I c-can't."

"I d-don't care if you c-can't. Come on."

Draco grabbed Hermione by the arms and started dragging her forward. When she tried to protest, he put his arm around her waist and dragged her that way. She wasn't strong enough to get out of his grip, and his body heat _did_ make her a bit warmer.

After walking for a long time, they saw a cave to the side. Draco dragged Hermione in. It was warm in there. The walls seemed to block the wind from entering. Draco set up a fire and took off the gloves and scarf he was wearing. "We're staying here for the night."

Hermione was still defrosting. "Oh, so now you're in charge?"

"Someone has to be. And that someone has to be a person who won't back down when it gets a little cold outside." He said rudely.

"It wasn't just a little cold, Malfoy. Can you not be a total arse for five minutes?" She was fed up and tired. She didn't sleep well the night before. Oh, and she was hungry too. She stomach growled. The noise echoed throughout the cave. Draco snickered and Hermione gave him an evil glare. "Shut up, ferret."

They both had snake again. Hermione needed to find some fruit or something, but knowing this forest, the fruit could be poisonous or have some sort of spell on it.

When Hermione's eyes started to droop, she lied down next to the cave wall, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	7. Illusions

Chapter seven:

Hermione hissed in pain when she stepped right on a sharp rock and she could feel it even through her shoe. She leaned all of her body weight onto a tree and pulled the rock, that was deep in the sole of her shoe, out.

Draco groaned when Hermione made a reason for them to stop AGAIN. That was the fifth time that day, and he especially wanted to get back to Hogwarts and away from her filth as soon as possible. "Again, Granger? Is a little walking too much for the poor wittle Grwffindor?" he mocked.

She glared at him. She stayed leaning against the tree for a while, savoring the feel of the shade it provided. The sun was starting to hurt her eyes, and she couldn't at its brightness much longer. "Shut up, Malfoy. If you want to keep going so badly, then go! You don't need me; you've made that VERY clear. And I surely don't need you."

He scoffed. "Doubt it."

Her mouth fell open slightly and she so badly wanted to hex him. "How dare you!" she yelled. Her hair was frizzier than it normally was, considering she hadn't brushed it in about a week, and it resembled a long afro that fell to her shoulders. "Besides, I can take care of myself," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You positive, Granger? Who was the one who got food?"

"Who was the one who made a shelter," she challenged.

"Yeah, and look at how well that worked out." Now he was getting frustrated. He couldn't take her anymore; he had to leave. He honestly couldn't care less if she made it back to the castle alive or not. It has been a week, and it seemed as though they were going in circles. The forest was like a maze; a maze they would never be able to find they way out of. If Apparation was possible here, Draco wouldn't bother going to Hogwarts; he would go straight home, and most likely complain about how he should have gone to Durmstrang so he wouldn't have to be surrounded by the likes of Granger.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Go, then. It makes no difference to me."

Draco said nothing, but he turned and walked off, not looking back once.

Once he was out of sight, Hermione sighed heavily. She leaned her head against the tree and closed her eyes. Now she was alone. But wasn't that what she wanted? Of course! She would rather be alone than with the likes of Draco Malfoy.

So, she kept walking, keeping her head held high.

After what felt like hours, Hermione decided to take another break and sit at the trunk of a very large tree. It was starting to get dark and she hadn't seen Malfoy since their little fight earlier that day. Knowing him, he probably got himself killed or something like that.

She was taken from her thoughts when she heard something that sounded an awful lot like running water. Running water? The Black Lake? Was she finally back at Hogwarts?

Her heart rate quickened and she stood up so quickly and ran towards the sound that she almost fell over in the process. It had to be the Black Lake! Never, would she have thought she would have been so happy to see the Giant Squid.

But her smile instantly turned into a frown when the sound of water did not come from the Black Lake. It was just a small pond that flowed steadily and too loudly for a pond. However, curiosity enveloped her and she walked towards the pond, getting on her knees in front of it, and looking down into it. She wondered if this was good enough to drink or if it was just another one of Dumbledore's enchantments. She decided not to take her chances, just in case it was poisonous or something.

Then something began to form at the bottom of the pond.

Hermione had to squint to see what it was, but it looked like shadows of two people of some sort. But they were too blurry that she was unable to put any names to faces.

In a moment's time, the blurry faces became clear and what Hermione saw in there made her gasp loudly. It was Harry and Ron! They were floating at the bottom of the pond! They were travelling too, and fell in! Hermione had to do something; they could be dead for all she knew and if she lost them, she would have no one who would really understand her.

Her hand clutched tightly to her pink beaded bag and she felt herself leaning forward. It was almost as if she was compelled to do so.

Before she knew it, she fell right into the pond.

She swam down as far she could and reached down to grab Harry and Ron. She had to save them; they were her best friends. But her hand went right through Ron's chest. They were illusions! This was a trick!

Hermione's lungs burned; she had to get up to the surface, or she would surely die. She swam up to about five feet below the surface, but when she tried to swim further up, her eyes began to close and she felt all of the air leaving her lungs. It was almost as if her lungs were shriveling up inside of her chest.

: )

Water left Hermione's lungs as she coughed it up on the ground. What was going on? Where was she? How did she get out of the pond?

She looked around, her dripping wet hair flying around as she turned her neck. A few feet in front of her was Draco Malfoy, who was also soaking wet.

"What the hell were you thinking, Granger? I thought you were the brightest witch of your age!" He yelled, sounding annoyed.

Her breathing was heavy and jagged. "They-they seemed so real. The pond seemed to pull me in."

"They? Who the hell is 'They'?"

"Harry and Ron! I saw them at the bottom of the pond and-" she stopped herself and allowed her eyes to narrow at the blonde boy sitting across from her. She completely dropped the subject of Harry and Ron, and demanded, "Why did you save me? I thought you hated me. Why did you come back?"

He exhaled sharply. "I wasn't much farther ahead of you and a heard a loud splash, and, thinking it was the Giant Quid from the Black Lake, I ran to see where it come from. Then I saw you trying to reach the surface, drowning. I jumped in and helped and because, believe it or not, Granger, I have a conscience."

Hermione was still furious, nonetheless. "I'm not stupid. If you saw your precious little Pansy in the pond, looking like she was drowning, you would jump in after her too."

He snickered. "You'd be surprised. The little gremlin isn't even my girlfriend. She just sits on my lap like she it. I doubt I'd save her if she tried to get herself killed."

"Hold on," Hermione said, picking up on the last thing he said. "If you wouldn't save even Pansy, you fellow Slytherin pureblood, why would you save me?"

"Just be thankful I did," he answered, purposely avoiding the answer to that question.


End file.
